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Protocal for Street photography?
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I was just wondering (as a beginner)
What is the protocall for including people in ones photos. – ie complete strangers.
I have noticed this in street photos in particular. i am often very hesitant to take pictures of complete strangers while out and about as they may not want to be photographed and hence get annnoyed.
Your thoughts on this please.Hi there,
Im not an experienced ‘street photographer’ , but in my opinion, its just about guts. If you just have the confidence to go around and take pictures of random people, then there’s not that much they can do (expect for beating you up? You never know in Dublin anyway ;)).
If you want someone to pose then yeah, you can ask.. If I was asked to pose for a picture, I would be quite flattered actaully, look at it from that way as well ;)
What I do is look straight through/past people… and pretend I’m shooting the building behind them or something else in the distance.
If they seem iffy then don’t make eye contact with them… and just make out your interest lies elsewhere.
Just be discrete… cute… sly… whatever you want to call it.
That being said… some people will light up when the camera points their way… and you’ll get a cheesy grin instead of the natural look you wanted.
In this shot yer man stared me down big time… but I just pretended to have no interest in him…
J
many thanks.
What about if i was to enter the photo in a competition or wished to display it in an exhibition etc???do i need some sort of permission?As far as I know you’re free to shoot whatever you like in public places.
But don’t quote me on that.
Interesting bits on Street Photography:
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=5dipTqJfiE4
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=kkIWW6vwrvM
Crikes… yer man Bruce Gilden obviously doesn’t subscribe to my street approach!
Wow – that Bruce guy – very intrusive.
dont think i would get away with that sort of stuff on O’Connell street or Grafton street…..slang61 wrote:
Wow – that Bruce guy – very intrusive.
dont think i would get away with that sort of stuff on O’Connell street or Grafton street…..I remember a photographer pushing a Bronica in my face on the O’Connell Street once.. I didn’t bother asking him, why. You would get away with it if you avoided the tracksuits and drug dealers.
as long as there are more then 5 persons in a public space, you can shoot whoever you want. Make sure it a public space though. You will be amazed to see how fast people will sue you ;)
nfl-fan wrote:
What I do is look straight through/past people… and pretend I’m shooting the building behind them or something else in the distance.
If they seem iffy then don’t make eye contact with them… and just make out your interest lies elsewhere.
Just be discrete… cute… sly… whatever you want to call it.
That being said… some people will light up when the camera points their way… and you’ll get a cheesy grin instead of the natural look you wanted.
In this shot yer man stared me down big time… but I just pretended to have no interest in him…
J
Perfect advice – guaranteed to work everytime, and if approached, play the innocent (no problem for me!)
I went out with a good street photographer (and a pro) the other day ( http://blog.alfiegoodrich.com/ ), one of the major tips I got from him was the use of an “angle finder”.
People don’t notice you when you are looking down and as you press the shutter with your thumb it is less noticeable when you are taking the a shot. But they are expensive.Also it can be useful not to walk looking for shots but to find a spot and stand/sit and wait, try to blend in. You then can have your background already decided, found a scene that is not too distracting, nor dull.
Thats a couple of things I learned, might help you. I’m trying it get into it too.
Martin
Great vids Mick. Bruce is a nutcase. His photographs speak for themselves though.
Mick451 wrote:
god they were fecking fantastic obviously was in kerry or dublin during the gaa final for some.
absolutely never make eye contact with the person look very busy and a bit impatient (not aggressively so) if approached
expressing an attitude of ‘why the feck would I want to photograph you?’
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